Gary Campbell is the Director of Youth Ministries at Groton Bible Chapel in Groton CT, and contributed this devotional to the SE-CT Youth Leaders newsletter this month.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18- Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Tonight I’ll be considering these words of the Apostle Paul with a group of middle school students and as I read the words, “…and the dead in Christ will rise first”, I have to admit that sometimes youth ministry can feel like already being “the dead in Christ”.

How often do you or I rely on our own strength to pound through our weekly or daily lists, or how do the multi angled expectations of middle schoolers, high schoolers, parents, senior pastors, and others cause us to manage both our time and emotions, then there’s the stories that we carry of kids lives- brokenness, anger, insecurities, poor choices, and on and on, that at least I at times, wrongfully, try to carry in my own strength.

This is NOT our calling, yes, we are to “bear one another’s burdens” and lay down our lives for those that we serve, but the strength to do that MUST come from a lifestyle of dependence and desire for time alone with our Savior. It His power that works in us “to will and to do”, not our own.

Beyond all this is the promise of these verses that given everything that we see, hear, and experience in youth ministry, THIS life is not the end game. This should not only encourage us, but give us words, that Paul instructs us to “encourage one another with.”

It is the risen Christ that gives us hope (v.13), it is the risen Christ that gives power over death (v.16), it is that same resurrection power and the promises that come with it, of redemption, new life, hope, and eternity with the God of heaven that empower our lives, our families, and every facet of the youth ministry work to which God has called us- whether we are a volunteer teaching a Sunday school class, or a full time youth minister.

Be encouraged today and lean on the One who gives power and strength even as you lean forward listening for that trumpet call!